


Phobias, Potions, and Passions

by Des98



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Past Mentions of Abuse, abusive dursley's, eighth year ficlet, short fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-03-03 19:21:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13347840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Des98/pseuds/Des98
Summary: Harry has fears and secrets.  Draco has desires and frustrations.  Both of these converge in a cupboard somewhere along the way.





	1. Harry

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JessicaAuburn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JessicaAuburn/gifts).



> Hey guys- so don't worry, I haven't abandoned my other fics, but this popped into my head, and as my dear little Bassy is so mercurial about when and what she lets me write I thought I'd put it down while I had the almost irresistable need to do so. Enjoy, and please comment and kudos if you enjoyed. If you didn't enjoy, well, there are other fics, so I don't see why you'd have to take time away from finding those to leave a mean review. Thanks.

     Harry James Potter was afraid of enclosed spaces. Anyone who had any insight into his upbringing could have understood easily, but he kept it a closely guarded secret. It was funny, too: at first, he used to see his cupboard as a sanctuary, but that illusion was shattered when he was very young and he learned that Vernon and Petunia could still reach him, still hurt him, in the small space that couldn’t even charitably be called a bedroom. By the time he was four years old, it had become a hated place, a dark place where he clenched his teeth in pain after another beating and suffered hunger pangs until he gradually taught himself, by sheer force of will, not to feel them anymore.

     Just as Harry was good at hiding his pain, even when the term was new and he had fresh lashes on his back from whatever painful instrument was nearest his uncle’s hand, he was an expert at hiding his fear. If anyone were to know how much he suffered and yet his capability of still functioning normally, and if anyone knew that he had glamours on all the time to hide his scrawny form and scars and aging bruises and yet still managed to function at a normal magical capacity while holding such a demanding spell, well, the sheer, nearly inhuman amount of resilience that Harry showed on a daily basis would have _terrified_ them. They would have known that only a hint of his power lay in his ability to face a dark lord, and they would have done everything in their power to stay off his bad side. In his own way, Harry’s very capabilities made him greater even than Voldemort or Dumbledore in terms of potential, but the fact that he was so very discreet with his power was reason enough to show that he was nothing like the former, and his simpleminded goodness and refusal to bend others to his own machinations spoke against him being anything like the latter.

     It was these same qualities that enabled Harry to keep from breaking down in complete and total panic every time he had to go to the potions’ supply closet to gather ingredients. He took a deep breath and kept his face neutral, even though his insides were roiling with discomfort. In eighth year, when he was partnered with Draco Malfoy (apparently Snape held resentment towards Harry for saving his life and wanted to see him suffer; at least, that was the explanation Ron came up with), he actually found it to be kind of a blessing, as the blonde Slytherin insisted on fetching their ingredients himself “to ensure it was done properly” or some such thing. Gods, it was relieving not to have to face that fear.

     On the other hand, however, Malfoy’s face drove him to distraction. Ever since his sexual awakening (he’d been afraid to tell Ginny he was gay, but she’d actually been quite relieved. Apparently, she had also come to terms with her sexuality, and she’d told him with a playful smack on the arm that he could ‘stop being her beard now.’ Gods, he loved the Weasley’s.) he wished he could be as happy with someone as Ginny was with Luna, and he wasn’t quite so dense as everyone believed (he was merely used to hiding just how intelligent he really was). Draco was a _fine_ specimen of the male form.

     Malfoy caught him looking at him and Harry tore his eyes away, although not before he saw the other boy lick his lips, almost sensually. He felt a flash of arousal flare up in his belly and tighten in his groin, and it was only years of training his physical reactions that kept him from shuddering.


	2. Draco

Draco watched Potter, his movements subtle yet blatant enough to convey his attraction. He thought he caught Potter flush just slightly, but he turned away nonchalantly only a second later, leaving Draco disappointed with his lack of ability to elicit a reaction. He almost groaned- would all his carefully laid plans be for nothing? Convincing his godfather to pair him up with Harry in potions, practicing the art of seduction with Pansy looking on until she informed him that even the straightest of men would likely find him irresistible (she paired this praise with a comment that Potter was most certainly not the straightest of men)- he was growing frustrated at the lack of Potter’s tongue down his throat.

     Had his and Pansy’s gaydars been wrong? No, certainly not! Pansy’s talents were such that she had bagged Millicent Bulstrode, whose lack of indication as to her preferences had led some (very foolish and ignorant) people to wrongly assume that she was asexual. Blaise Zabini himself confessed that Draco was the source of his bi awakening, and the elegant fellow Slytherin had gone on to _do it_ with every of-age Slytherin, minus Draco and Theo (who had a very serious Hufflepuff boyfriend, thank you very much) on the boys’ side (he’d done the girls side like, _ages_ ago).

     So why couldn’t he ensnare Potter, with his stupid messy hair, some weird mix of curls and waves and the occasional cowlick, and his stupid scar and his stupid coffee skin, so perfectly tanned even in the winter time? Well fine- if the Gryffindor was going to be that dense, Draco would merely be more overt. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he almost overboiled their potion, saved only by a nudge from Potter that simultaneously saved their brew and also set his skin on fire.

     He quickly stirred it, extinguished the fire with an ‘ _augmenti_ ’ just a smidge too strong, and set to helping Harry bottle it so they could get out of there and he could get Potter to touch him some more (at least, he hoped he could get Potter to touch him some more- seeing as things had been going slowly so far, Draco wanted to make super extra sure that any further contact was Harry’s idea, even though it was killing him to hold back). He was just so- what was that word that Pansy got from those trashy muggle vampire novels she was obsessed with- oh yes, _yummy_. Harry Potter was yummy, no doubt about it. And Draco Malfoy was starving.


	3. Harry

     “Potter, a word?” Draco Malfoy was asking him to talk, and Harry honestly didn’t know how to respond for a minute, as what was quite possibly an innocent request was sending his mind in some very naughty directions. _Well, one way to find out,_ he thought as he followed Draco to an empty corridor.

     “Yes, Malfoy?” he raised an eyebrow, trying to appear calm, and doing a good job at it, because that’s what he trained himself to do. “

Are you really that dense or are you ignoring me on purpose?” the other ground out through clenched teeth.

     “Excuse me?” Harry was taken aback for a moment. He wasn’t used to being spoken to that way since he defeated Voldemort and people insisted on treating him like a hero. Even Snape- and this really freaked him out- was being cordial towards him.             “Fine, if you’re going to make me spell it out,”- accompanied by a series of dramatic hand gestures- “I like you. You’re hot as fuck and I can’t stand it. So, will you please either accept me or deny me so I can stop living in this hellish limbo.”

     Harry was frozen for a moment, only a moment, as he processed this. Malfoy liked him too! Then he crashed his mouth against Draco’s and the world started spinning in a clash of lips and tongues and yes, even teeth (repressed passion will do that to two horny teens). Then they heard someone coming. Draco began leading them towards the inside of a nearby broom cupboard, still tangled together, and Harry froze just for a moment as he realized their destination.

     Draco shot him a questioning look, but Harry merely grabbed the front of his robes and pulled them both the rest of the way in, shutting the door. He’d been waiting months to do this, and he’d be damned if he let some phobia take it away from him- he wasn’t going to let the Dursley’s ruin any more of his happiness.

     It seems the cure for not only reasonable behavior, but also unreasonable fear is pure lust, because Harry didn’t even flinch as the doors shut behind them with a kick from Draco. He turned their position so Draco was shoved roughly against the side wall of the wardrobe, and, at Draco’s willing nod, began to strip the other wizard of his robe. As Draco began to reciprocate, Harry was vaguely aware that he would surely feel the raised scars on his back, but he didn’t give a damn. Malfoy had been getting to his head in one way or another since their first year, and as there was no getting him out, it seemed the only solution would be to let him further in.

     As Draco succeeded in getting his robes off and ran his hands hungrily over his back, he caught the questioning glance in his eyes that told him there would be a conversation later. Suddenly, he didn’t care. He was tired of keeping the burden of his past from everyone, and decided on a whim (yet not really on a whim, if he were to think about it on more than a surface level, which he was currently too busy to do) that he would let Draco have everything he wanted of his body and mind alike, and he somehow knew without having to ask that Draco would be willing to offer him the same. And so all was well.


End file.
